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$15!? Wow. How come?
Even so, 60Hz would do my head in after a while. >>
It all started a few years ago. I have 14" monitor (Max 1024x768@60Hz) that I have had since 1996. It's a complete PoS but I refuse to actually PAY to replace it until it dies (it's on its last legs).
Anyway, a friend at school offered to sell me a Sun GDM1962B. It's a 19" fixed-frequency monstosity. It ONLY does 1024 or 1172 and ONLY at 72Hz. He had modified it run at 70Hz if you could find a video card that could output the whacky composite sync signal. Price: $50. He even said he'd take it back if I couldn't get it working. I had nothing to lose so I decided I'd put a little sweat into having 2 monitors. ATI graphics cards output composite sync, so I bought one of those and away I went.
That summer I was at the infamous Trenton Computer Fair, which is a typical computer show with a HUGE flea market full of vendors selling outlandish electronic crap (it's coming up this May at the Raritan Convention Center, Edison, NJ, if anyone's interested).
There on a table is a glorious 21" Sun 20D10. I know from prior reading that it's a trinitron. I also know that it's not TRULY fixed-frequency. It's a multi-sync but it has low refresh rates and won't go below like 800x600, so you won't be able to see your BIOS if you use it. Woopdeedoo for me. Pricetag: $50.
The catch: It's HEAVY. VERY HEAVY. I walk over and start lifting it trying to get an idea of if it's worth lugging it all the way back to the car when I'm not even certain I can get it to work.
The guy at the table says "You don't want that. It's fixed-frequency and won't work on your PC."
Me: "What frequency?"
Him: "I don't know......."
Me: "Because I actually know a little bit about making these monitors work on PCs."
Him: "Really? Honestly you're the first person all weekend to even ACT like you knew what it was." (there's only an hour left in the show)
Him: "I'll tell you what. It's so d@mn heavy I don't want to load it back into my van and haul it back to Long Island. I'll give it to you for $30."
Now he's twisting my arm...the bastard. But he's yet to plant the knife in my back. Now my interest is clearly piqued, he goes in for the kill:
"As a matter of fact....If nobody tries to buy that 17" Sun monitor, by the end of the show, I'll give you that one for free if you buy the 21."
That did it for me. Here it sits upon my desk. The 17" is the display for my SparcStation 10. The 14" still wedged in between awaiting its sweet rest.
Yes, I have pics.